Ranma of the Four Winds
by SnaggleR
Summary: What's this? Magical, elemental spirits in the land of Ranma 12? Something is amiss... Nothing worthy of the R rating yet, just making sure.


Ranma of the Four Winds  
  
Disclaimer: Ranma's not mine. Astronomy's not mine. The only thing here that's mine is the concept of combining Astronomy with Ranma. And any similarities to anything else, living or dead, is purely coincidental. So lay off. Yo.  
  
Speech " "  
  
Thoughts : :  
  
Sounds   
  
Panda Signs [ ]  
  
English { }  
  
Chinese (" ")  
  
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Four winds at the Four Winds Bar, Two doors locked and windows barred.  
  
One door left to take you in, The other one just mirrors it.  
  
Oh, hellish glare and inference, The other one's a duplicate. The queenly flux, eternal light, Or the light that never warms, Yes, the light that never, never warms, Or, the light that never... Never warms. Never warms. Never warms.  
  
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Prologue  
  
Four Winds Bar  
  
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Relentless rain and billowing gales capable of toppling trees were all that were known in an empty plain somewhere in Japan. Empty, that is, but for three figures, struggling against the intense conditions.  
  
"This storm is too fierce!" yelled a young man. He looked to be about 21, and was obviously quite athletic. He had a lean but muscular build, and a head of black hair in a simple style, obviously not concerned with how it looked. "We'll never make it!"  
  
"Do not lose faith, ototo!" shouted back the other man. He was at least a decade the first man's elder, and had short, yet wild black hair. He had a look of absolute confidence, and an egotistical smirk, almost as if he were challenging the storm to oppose him. "We'll find shelter soon!" The man's look of confidence encouraged his younger brother to continue on with renewed strength, facing forward again and embracing the young woman clinging to his arm.  
  
"Fear not, my love! With oniisan with us, we shall surely prevail against this tempest!" Despite his words of comfort, the woman continued to cling to him, fearing for her life. The young man looked forward once more and peered through the sheets of rain. "Is... is that a clock tower?"  
  
The older man looked at his brother skeptically. "What are you talking about, ototo? There wouldn't be any of those around here! We're in the boonies!" He looked in the direction his brother's head was turned, squinting his eyes to peer through the virtual wall of water and wind that battered them mercilessly. It was then that he heard the ground shift below them, and a shriek of surprise. Both he and his brother kept their footing, but the younger's wife, being the least skilled, could not keep hers.  
  
"I'm slipping! Shujin, help me!" The younger man struggled to get hold of his wife, but his hand was too wet and slipped, himself stumbling, nearly lost to the winds. He could only watch helplessly, the winds increasing the gap between them when the form of his brother shot into view, quickly catching his wife and plummeting to the mud below like a stone, almost defying the winds. He watched in awe as his brother stood with his unharmed wife, wishing he could be half as skilled as he. The three continued into the storm, huddled together to prevent another mishap as they set their sites on the clock tower before them. As they came nearer the structure, the older brother shook his head in disbelief and stared in shock. There truly was a clock tower here.  
  
"W... where are we?" stuttered the wife of the younger man.  
  
"I'm... not sure..." replied the elder hesitantly. "I didn't believe this place existed." He looked past the clock tower and gasped at what he saw. "It's... it's the bar! So the myths are true." He directed the trio toward the bar, his curiosity overwhelming him. When they came within thirty feet of the bar, the storm suddenly stopped. They looked back and watched in fascination at the wall of rain that was but three feet behind them, unmoving. "Come on." They approached the front door and tried the handle, but found that it was locked tight.  
  
"Hmm. It seems this is the mirrored door." The younger of the two men looked at his brother in confusion. "It's part of the myth. 'One door left to take you in, the other one just mirrors it.' The true door must be on the other side." The three walked around to the other side, passing the padlocked door and barred windows to find another door that looked exactly like the first, though it was the mirrored image of it. He turned the knob and smirked victoriously as it turned easily and opened slowly. Suddenly it burst open and a blinding light flooded from within. With the light, however, came an extreme cold, causing the older man to shiver. "The light that never warms..." The younger brother and his wife could not look into the light because it was too powerful for them, but their attention was drawn towards the door as the air around them was forced into it. A cry of shock reached their ears as the elder brother was pulled from his feet and dragged into the doorway, his cry cut short as the door slammed shut and a deadbolt slid into place.  
  
"ONIISAN!" The remaining man ran toward the door and tried desperately to open it, even attempting to break it down, but to no avail. His struggles were futile, his brother was gone. "Oniisan..." Just then the sound of wood breaking and a creaky door opening was heard from the other side of the small building. The pair ran around to the other side, where they saw the previously locked door wide open, a small child of no more than one year of age wandering out of it, his eyes wide with wonder. The young woman picked the child up and cradled him in her arms.  
  
"Genma... he looks so much like your brother."  
  
"Yes, you're right, Nodoka. We should honor his memory and name this child after him." He took the child in his own arms. "We shall call him Ranma."  
  
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To be continued...  
  
Author's notes: I know you guys hate me, but bear with me here. Maybe it won't be so long till I write the next chapter. shifty eyes 


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